Ruairí Cullen

Thanks for sharing Kieran, a really good piece! And congrats on the shortlisting.

Key finding 1: Cold spots have emerged in the North, South West and East of England, as well as parts of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Key finding 1: Cold spots have emerged in the North, South West and East of England, as well as parts of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Key finding 2: The biggest loss of provision is at lower-tariff levels. This is concerning given strong links between attainment and socioeconomic disadvantage. Key finding 3: Languages, Linguistics, Anthropology, Classics and Theology are among the hardest hit. If trends continue, English, History, Drama and Celtic studies – including Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh – could follow.

As we await the post-16 White Paper, we’re calling for: - An urgent review of higher education funding - Regulators to monitor provision with an ‘at-risk’ regional register and subject premium - Government to help universities collaborate effectively with clearer guidance about competition law

In case you missed it: our latest report explores a growing crisis in universities.

In many regions, students risk losing access to vital humanities, social science and arts subjects. Swipe to see our key findings and recommendations.

Humanities and arts degrees disappearing in parts of UK Students from rural and disadvantaged areas disproportionally affected by subject cuts, British Academy warns

'As universities close courses and departments in response to financial pressures...students in parts of the North, South West and East of England, as well as large areas of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are losing access to social sciences, humanities and arts (SHAPE) courses.' 1/2

GCSE Results Day 2025: Spanish surpasses French in popularity among students in historic first for language studies New GCSE data shows that Spanish has overtaken French for the first time as the most popular language choice among students, following a sustained rise in entries of nearly 25% since 2020.

It’s GCSE results day: new data shows Spanish has overtaken French in popularity for the first time in history, while German uptake continues to decline.

Read the full story here 👉 buff.ly/rx4fJ4z

A level results 2025: Economics and Politics still popular with students, while other social sciences and humanities continue to decline New A level entry data reveals that Economics and Politics continue to grow in popularity with students – with entries up by +5.5% and +1.2% respectively compared to last year.

A level entry data revealed today shows that Economics and Politics continue to grow in popularity with students – while other social sciences, humanities and arts face declines. See the full story here:

A group of students looking at exam results

It's results day in Scotland and we have updated our data on SHAPE discipline uptake across National 5s, Highers, and Advanced Highers.

Explore 10 years of trends on our Indicators dashboard at the SHAPE Observatory: buff.ly/sSAqARJ

A comment from me today in the Sunday Times about studying subjects like Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Uptake data can be found www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

What SHAPE graduates do The British Academy has released analysis of what social sciences, humanities, and arts graduates do after graduation. Pablo Roblero and Alfie Denness introduce the findings

UK higher education: 'much of the current discussion – and policymaking – is shaped by narrow metrics, which over-focus on graduate earnings.

This approach overlooks many of the ways graduates contribute to society and distorts our understanding of the value of different subjects.' 1/2

NEW on Wonkhe: The British Academy has released analysis of what social sciences, humanities, and arts graduates do after graduation. Pablo Roblero and Alfie Denness introduce the findings buff.ly/pB45bCX

we've done a lot of work (and more to come v soon) on this at the British Academy

Students warned of subject cold spots as universities cut courses A new report says universities should be allowed to collaborate more in order to deliver merged courses.

Cold spots discourse is getting so hot right now: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sorry for the confusion Colin, but that just reflects the subject that was chosen for the specific images for the post. Play around with the tool yourself and you'll see plenty of hums courses in Belfast.

A map of the UK, overlaid with a heat map that displays 'cold spots' where there is a lack of provision of social sciences and humanities higher education courses.

A map of the UK overlaid with colour coded circles that show the concentration of student numbers across different regions.

A line chart showing changes in student numbers over time.

Our map of cold spots in provision of humanities and social sciences courses and student numbers across the UK has been updated with the data for the 2023/24 academic year. Explore for yourself here: buff.ly/2x7yE5K

Pablo Roblero presents a slide displaying a map of the UK, on which are overlaid 'cold spots' where provision of humanities and social sciences subjects is lacking.

How can we turn data into impact? Molly Morgan Jones, Director of Policy and Pablo Roblero, Senior Data Analyst highlight the importance of narrative. Our work to map course closures using layered long term data illustrates this approach: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Graphic displaying the tagline "The conversation starts here" in black text against a yellow background, with the British Academy's logo in lighter yellow.

Our inaugural SHAPE Conference is underway, exploring how the humanities and social sciences can be supported and strengthened across policy, education and R&D. We will be sharing insights and ideas from our speakers here throughout the day.

Beautiful day for the first ever SHAPE conference on all things policy, HE and the humanities, social sciences and arts! @britishacademy.bsky.social

"On his missionary work, he was said to have changed water to honey, and cheese into stone and back to cheese again" - impressive work!

You've gone as Blofeld?

Great piece from @lyntonlees.bsky.social laying out why we're publishing our geoviz tool and what it offers advocates of the humanities and social sciences. The maps are simple to use but tell a complex story.

Mapping social sciences, humanities and arts (SHAPE) provision in UK higher education Discover this new project from the British Academy, which maps changing provision of SHAPE subjects in UK higher education institutions.

We talked to the Royal Geographical Society about how we did it: www.rgs.org/about-us/wha...

Dead excited to see our new providers map out in the world. Delve into the data with @lyntonlees.bsky.social below!

Politics and international relations has grown over the last decade – but unevenly Connor McKenzie presents British Academy research showing how the field of politics and international relations is navigating expansion Connor McKenzie presents British Academy research showing how th...

And if you don't have time this week/month to read the @britishacademy.bsky.social 's 72 report on the discipline of Politics & International Relations in the UK, this @wonkhe.bsky.social piece by Connor McKenzie offers a succinct summary of the key findings.

Deputy Head of Policy (Research) The closing date for applications is 12 noon Monday 27 January 2025.

I’m recruiting 2 Deputy Head of Policy roles to join my team at @britishacademy.bsky.social. First up - Deputy of Research Policy, helping guide all things R&D, innovation, research funding and culture. £50k salary, 34 days leave & an unbelievable pension! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/about/jobs/d...

🚨Job alert 🚨Come work with us at the British Academy! We're hiring two Deputy Heads of Policy in HE & Research - exciting hybrid roles in a great team, with excellent benefits (come for the 34 days AL, stay for the beloved subsidised canteen). Details here: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/about/jobs/

ICYMI we’ve launched a new beta tool using HESA data to track if university departmental closures are leading to geographical ‘cold spots’ for the availability of particular social science/humanities/arts subjects
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Very relevant from @torstenbell.bsky.social last week on university cold spots. Today we've launched our new mapping tool to identify potential shape cold spots www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

There are cold spots in arts, humanities, and social sciences provision New British Academy interactive maps reveal cold spots in social sciences, humanities and arts in UK higher education – especially affecting disadvantaged students. Ruairi Cullen explains

You can read more about the policy context and our findings - where are there cold spots in Shape provision in UK? - on @wonkhe.bsky.social: wonkhe.com/blogs/there-...

At the @britishacademy.bsky.social, we think access to social sciences, humanities and arts (Shape) courses matters and should be open to all. So we've created a tool to see changes in provision in what is the first of a new suite of mapping resources: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

There are cold spots in arts, humanities, and social sciences provision New British Academy interactive maps reveal cold spots in social sciences, humanities and arts in UK higher education – especially affecting disadvantaged students. Ruairi Cullen explains

(And read @ruairicullen.bsky.social’s analysis on Wonkhe here: wonkhe.com/blogs/there-...) 🎓

Map indicating potential cold spots in provision of SHAPE subjects. ©️British Academy, 2024.

🚨 Are we seeing regional cold spots in social sciences, humanities & arts provision emerge across UK HE? 🚨

Today our team @britishacademy.bsky.social launches the first new mapping tool on our SHAPE Observatory. Our maps track changes in SHAPE subject provision in UK universities since 2011 🗺️ ⤵️